Why the Rangers Are Still Going to Make the Playoffs

With 7 games to go on the season and sitting in 8th place, the NY Rangers had a chance to stay on pace with the teams around them and get closer to securing a playoff berth.

Instead, they came into Philadelphia and gave one of the most dissapointing efforts of the season. Granted, Steve Mason played lights out when he had to and finished the night with 40 saves. However, I would blame the Rangers for the lose more than I would give the Flyers credit for the win. Sure, I may be biased, but this was not the same team that we have seen since the trade deadline.

As proven by their 4-1-1 record since the trade deadline, the Rangers are better than what they showed yesterday and with a few bounces going their way (especially on the Schenn goal) we could have seen a totally different outcome last night. Regardless of what could have been, it is important to take the positives out of this game as a Ranger fan and look at how this lose could actually end up being a good thing for the team moving forward.

Follow me after the jump.

Losing to the Flyers hurt, but it did not eliminate the Rangers from the playoffs. Actually, it did not even bump them from 8th place. They still sit in playoff position even though the Islanders, Jets, and Capitals all won their games. This game could actually have been a good wake-up call for the team.

When you look at their remaining schedule, you can see that their final 6 games should be a cake walk (then again as history shows, the Rangers tend to make things difficult for themselves).

Rangers Schedule

Seeing how these last games are must-wins and should be easy-wins for NY, there was a possibility that if the Rangers beat the Flyers they would take them less seriously. Luckily (right?) they lost to the Flyers and now realize that they need to play lights out against these non-playoff teams who are looking to stop them from playing for the cup (i.e. NJ Devils). To take it one step further, I predict the Rangers to finish 4-2, which means they would finish with 54 points.

When comparing it to the Jets and Islanders final games, I believe that 54 points will get the Blueshirts into the top 8 by seasons end. Both teams have a tougher schedule than the Rangers as shown below.

Jets Schedule

...and

Islanders Schedule

I predict the Jets to finish at 2-3 and the Islanders to finish 3-2. This means that the Jets would finish with 50 points and the Islanders would finish with 54 points. 

It should be a wild finish and if the Rangers truly did wake-up after last nights missed opportunity to gain some leverage on their playoff position, they should be expecting to be in the playoffs.